Juniper French was born four months early, at 23 weeks gestation. She weighed 1 pound, 4 ounces, and her twiggy body was the length of a Barbie doll. Her head was smaller than a tennis ball, her skin was nearly translucent, and through her chest you could see her flickering heart. Babies like Junipe

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A picture of a baby’s hand clutching an adult’s pinky finger appeared on the screen in the Hutton Honors College Great Room. The hand barely fit around the pinky finger. The baby was about the size of a large mango and weighed just over a pound.

Juniper French was born after only 23 weeks and six days gestation, about 113 days too early. Doctors call this the “gray area.” Babies born at 21 weeks rarely survive, and doctors have a moral obligation to keep premature babies alive at 25 weeks. At less than 24 weeks, the parents often have to decide how they want to continue.

“The doctors put it on us and said you need to decide, and quickly, whether you want your baby to be born. Do you want us to just put her in your arms and let you hold her for however much time she has?” said Juniper’s mother, professor of practice Kelley Benham French. “Or do you want us to hook her up to all this stuff and try to save her?”

A picture of a baby’s hand clutching an adult’s pinky finger appeared on the screen in the Hutton Honors College Great Room. The hand barely fit around the pinky finger. The baby was about the size of a large mango and weighed just over a pound.

Juniper French was born after only 23 weeks and six days gestation, about 113 days too early. Doctors call this the “gray area.” Babies born at 21 weeks rarely survive, and doctors have a moral obligation to keep premature babies alive at 25 weeks. At less than 24 weeks, the parents often have to decide how they want to continue.

“The doctors put it on us and said you need to decide, and quickly, whether you want your baby to be born. Do you want us to just put her in your arms and let you hold her for however much time she has?” said Juniper’s mother, professor of practice Kelley Benham French. “Or do you want us to hook her up to all this stuff and try to save her?”